IRISH GARDENING 



lot^i,''eil soil. I.inio also sets fiCL" and rentiers 

 a\ailalile sonu' o( ihe principal i.onstitiients ol 

 plant t'ooil, incliidinj^ nitrates and potash, so 

 that imless lime is present in the soil, manures, 

 whethernalural or arlilicial, do iioi produce their 

 fidl elTect. The texture ot" heavy soijs is miieh 

 inipro\ed by the action of lime in causing the 

 finest particles to run toi^ether or (locculate, as 

 it is called, hy which means the peculiar adhe- 

 siveness of a clay soil is sj;'really diminished. 

 As a preventative of the dread scourge " finger 

 and toe " in cruciferous crops, lime is very 

 valuable. 



All soils contain the raw materials from which 

 a plant can make its food, but they are seldom 

 present in an available form in sullicient i.|uan- 

 lilics to supply the needs of a yrowiny crop, 

 hence the necessity C)f applying manures. The 

 manures in general use are of two classes, 

 organic and chemical or artificial. Ivach class 

 has its advantages. The manures consisting 

 partly of vegetable matter, the chief of which 

 is farmyard manure, not alone are oi' food value 

 but have a very beneficial effect on the textLire 

 of the soil owing to the humus they contain. 

 Artificials are t^uicker acting and more con- 

 centrated than farmyard manure ; by means of 

 them the particular elements that a plant 

 rec]uires can be supplied in the correct propor- 

 tions, a prescription can be made up, as it were, 

 to meet the needs of any particular plant. A 

 proper system of manuring embraces the use 

 of both these classes of fertilisers. The action 

 of humus on a soil, whether it be heavy or light, 

 is extremely beneficial. It absorbs water like 

 a sponge, but readily allows it to pass upward 

 to the plant roots in time o( drought, unlike 

 cla\-, in which the movement of water is very 

 slow. It renders a clay soil less sticky and a 

 sandy soil less open and more capable of holding 

 moisture. Besides its mechanical action, it 

 will readily be seen that as humus consists ol 

 decayed vegetable matter it will contain all the 

 essential food materials that a plant requires 

 from the soil. For these reasons fallen leaves, 

 grass cuttings, the refuse of vegetables and 

 dead weeds should be carefully collected and 

 allowed to decay in heaps; by adding them to 

 the soil in a decayed condition they act as a 

 \'aluable manure. 



Besides the substances mentioned there are 

 various materials, such as wood ashes, soot, 

 road scrapings and ditch parings, all of whicli 



m 



de 



aie ot value in improving soil. Wood ashes 

 lor their potash, soot for the ammonia which 

 it has absorbeil in the chimney, road scrapings 

 lor lime and sand, anil ditch parings for vcgc- 

 i.ible fibre and decayed vegetable remains. Old 

 mort.ir rubble will help to lighten a heavy soil 

 and to sweeten it as well. 



Hut it must be remembered that the great 

 cans of soil improvement is thorough and 

 ep cultivation. Kvery lime a spadeful of soil 

 is turned over it is improved, and the full value 

 cannot be obtained from manure unless the soil 

 is deeply dug. Not only are the useful bacteria 

 rendered more active by digging, but the water- 

 holding capacity of the soil is increased, and 

 plants sufTer much less in periods of drought. 

 Vo get the best results from a soil double 

 digging should be practised, and a liberal 

 supply of \egetable matter incorporated with 

 the sLibsoil ; the top spit should be enriched 

 with farmyard manure, and after the crop is in 

 a dressing of the particular artificial to which 

 the crop is partial might be sown on the 

 surface. 



L'TRH'l I.AK1.\ I'KKIIKNSII.IS. 



Tills curious little Hladdei wort is a nati\e of 

 tropical and South .Africa and .Madagascar. It 

 grows in very shallow water, and the strap like 

 green leaves, one to two inches long, float oti 

 the surface. The stems run about in the mutl, 

 and from them appear climbing flower stems 

 twining like a runner bean, and these produce 

 yellow flowers. On the stem in the mud are 

 formed bladders, which are transparent. The 

 bladders are traps for catching small aquatic 

 animals ; the small animals can easily push 

 open a valve-like door to enter, but once inside 

 cannot get out, antl perish from starvation or 

 suffocation. The products of their decom- 



position nourish the plant, and are taken up by 

 special absorption cells which line the interior 

 of the bladders. These absorption cells are 

 rather curious ; they consist of a basal cell on 

 which is fastened two long finger-like cells 

 which mav be clearly seen under the micro- 

 scope. In the British species, like Utricularia 

 neglecta, there are four finger cells attached 

 to the basal cell. The plants in cultivation 

 were raised from a single seed which Prof. 

 Bayley Balfour, of Edinburgh, received frpm 

 South .Africa. 



